Valentine Prep & Menu Plan Update

Happy Valentine's Day!  Ellis is in pre-school, which means we needed to make some Valentines for his classmates. I love me some recycled crayon hearts and I had lots of Valentine-y paper and thrifted doilies.  So we made collage-y Valentine cards with recycled crayon hearts.

I'm sure E's classmates will have awesome store-bought cards with candy.  I'm trying not to feel inferior.   I'm trying not to add Spiderman stickers. I know it's okay to do homemade, but sometimes I get a complex.  Oh, the courage of my convictions is often hard to come by.

Ellis helped.  It was hard for me to release control over how beautiful the finished product would be.

In other news, I forgot to keep you posted on our meals this week.  The Beef and Broccoli was amazing.  Total make-again.

The Irish Blue Cheese soup was also very good, but I found it to be a bit rich, and that's reducing the cheese by half.  I am still adjusting to a more meat and fat intensive diet, so I am probably not a good control subject.  However, I'd sub most of the cheese for sour cream next time and spice it up a bit.  In any case, it's totally worth making.  A very flexible tomato soup recipe.

While I was in Minnesota, I made some freezer meals for my parents.  The big hit was a Split Pea and Ham Slow-Cooker soup.  My mom is currently making it on repeat.  It couldn't be easier:

Slow-Cooker Split Pea Soup with Ham (or Vegetarian!)

Put this in the slow-cooker:  20-24 oz. split peas, 1 chopped onion, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 2 chopped carrots, (plus any other veggies you like, all chopped small.  Potato would be great!), some ham (either a ham hock or whatever), enough broth or water to cover everything (Around 6-8 cups.  We used 365 Chicken Broth, because it is soy free and not crazy expensive.  Homemade would be best.)  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Remove ham and chop it up.  Blend with immersion blender if you want things smooth.  Or don't.  Put ham back in.  Enjoy!  If you're the veggie sort, omit ham and use mushroom broth and more veggies.  You'll also probably want to adjust seasonings, with salt, pepper and thyme and maybe a bay leaf to add the depth the ham provides.